Editor’s note: Noah Kulwin is a member of J Street U at UC Berkeley. As word broke yesterday that ASUC President Connor Landgraf would not veto SB 160, the divestment bill targeting companies involved in Israeli human rights violations, which passed in the ASUC last week, I was not sure Read More…
As Students For Justice in Palestine activists and a Berkeley attorney working with the SJP and Cal alumni, we feel compelled to respond to the chancellor’s criticism of the recent ASUC vote to divest from companies that profit from Israel’s human rights violations in Palestine. The chancellor’s concern about the Read More…
The ASUC Senate’s deeply misguided vote to divest UC funds from companies affiliated with the Israeli military is, in one sense, utterly irrelevant. Despite its best efforts, the coterie of far-left activists that dominates student politics rarely influences university policy — Chancellor Birgeneau helpfully reminded us that the regents’ investment portfolio will Read More…
ASUC President Connor Landgraf announced Tuesday that he will not be vetoing SB 160, a bill that seeks the divestment of ASUC funds from companies associated with the Israeli military and encourages the UC to do the same. Read More…
This week Tikvah: Students for Israel held our sixth annual Israel Peace and Diversity Week (IPD Week). As always, there was an array of informative lectures, exciting activities and educational events about the most vibrant democracy in the Middle East. Israel Peace and Diversity Week has special importance given the Read More…
I recently watched the film “Kingdom of Heaven,” and I was struck by one of the final lines spoken by the character Saladin, a Muslim leader who battled to take over Jerusalem during the era of the Crusades. When questioned by Orlando Bloom’s character, Balian, a valiant defender of the Read More…
In the last year, Hamas, the fundamentalist party that rules Gaza, has fired thousands of rockets into Israel — 1506 during the latest round of fighting. Israel had a right to defend itself as it did in the recent fighting, and its conduct more generally deserves vindication. Hamas’ charter speaks Read More…
This past winter break, I went back to Israel. As I have lived there intermittently over the past few years, the trip served as a way to reconnect with family, friends and a place that has held many meaningful experiences for me. The trip was composed of a few families Read More…
In the wake of the UC Student Association’s decision to take a stance for free speech and the human rights of Palestinians and all people, I was disappointed by the Daily Cal’s decision to publish three opinion pieces decrying this as an attack on the Jewish community. As a Jewish Read More…
In 2010, at UC Berkeley, our student senate considered a bill calling on the UC to remove its investments in companies aiding Israel’s human rights abuses. It passed 16 to four. The president vetoed the bill, and the veto was never overturned. This last Saturday, the UC Student Association, a Read More…
